Frequently asked questions by parents about “How Children Learn at A Place to Grow”.

1. When will you teach my child to read?
2. Is A Place to Grow getting my child ready for kindergarten? Will my child be “ready to learn”?
3. Why is it so noisy in my child’s classroom?
4. Why does the teacher encourage children to play with sand, water, blocks, and art materials?
5. When will my child learn to count and do math problems?
6. Why hasn’t my child learned to write or recognize the alphabet? Why doesn’t A Place to Grow offer activities like “letter of the week”?
7. How can my child learn to pay attention when there are so many activities going on?
8. Why doesn’t the teacher put more emphasis on being obedient like sitting still and walking in a straight line?
9. Why is my son playing with dolls or why is my daughter pretending to be a firefighter?
10. Why aren’t children playing more organized games outside?
11. Why does A Place to Grow put so much value on play?
12. What can I do at home to help my child?

We write stories with children and read them together. This step is important because it helps children learn that meaning can be attached to print. In other words, all those “scribbles” mean something. Children also feel empowered when their “thoughts” can become visual and they can communicate to others. Children need various opportunities to develop their perceptual skills through the manipulation of objects and art materials before they can decode the written word. Love of books, a broad experiential background and oral language skills are essential prerequisites to reading.

At A Place to Grow we emphasize conversation, writing stories, learning our names, reading good quality children’s books, and discussing the story.
We offer a print-rich environment with words and stories that are meaningful and unique to each classroom.
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2. Is A Place to Grow getting my child ready for kindergarten? Will my child be “ready to learn”?
At A Place to Grow, we emphasize the social curriculum. We believe that the social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum for young children. We believe that we have a responsibility to teach children the skills they need to be involved members of a community throughout their lives. Children who are “ready to learn” have well developed social skills. They know how to listen, when to speak, they know how to be a friend, they have friends, and they understand the social rules of the group. Many early childhood professionals have described a set of social skills that children need to learn and practice in order to be successful academically and socially:

C Cooperation
A Assertion
R Responsibility
E Empathy
S Self-Control

At A Place to Grow we believe that these skills are the foundation for being “ready to learn”. We are educating the whole child.
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3. Why is it so noisy in my child’s classroom?
Promoting children’s language development is one of the primary goals of early childhood education. Children learn best in a social environment which includes working with others and lots of conversation and questions.
A good early childhood environment is active. Singing, building, cooking, manipulating and role playing are how children learn and work. Teachers who are aware of young children’s need for involvement provide a variety of activities resulting in a room that is filled with the busy sound of children working. For young children, play is their work. How young children learn may be more important than what they learn! We encourage exploration, investigation and experimentation through play.
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4. Why does the teacher encourage children to play with sand, water, blocks, and art materials?
Play is the way a young child learns. They learn through their senses and through their bodies. Learning occurs not just vertically but also horizontally. Horizontal learning allows a child to “stay” at their comfort level fully exploring concepts through play in their own unique way. For example, when a child approaches a shape puzzle, there are many options. She may stack the shapes; try repeatedly to put the square peg in the round hole; she may do the puzzle correctly over and over; she may ask to know the names of the shapes; she may put them in order by size; she may play with them without the puzzle board; she may turn them over and do the puzzle upside down, she may want to trace the shapes, and find the shapes in the classroom. She is present in the moment and is not concerned about moving on. When she has internalized these concepts, she will intentionally seek out new materials to explore and her teacher will be ready to engage her.

Rather than wasting time telling young children about concepts such as texture and weight, high and low, liquid and solid, the teacher intentionally selects activities which let children learn concepts through the manipulation and exploration of real materials.

Working with open-ended materials is particularly effective as children strive to solve problems. Open-ended materials encourage creative and divergent thinking. There is no right or wrong way to use these materials. Therefore, children take risks and develop confidence. Each time they use these materials they are creating something new. The freedom to be in control of the situation helps children achieve a sense of competency and self-worth.

Because children are sharing these materials, they are compelled to ask for needed materials and to share them. These skills help children use language effectively and teach them how to be part of a group.

This range of activities encourages children to fully express themselves through a variety of teacher guided activities. They are given the opportunity to become fully engaged in their play and their learning is truly self-motivated. They are learning how to learn!
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5. When will my child learn to count and do math problems?
Many children can count when they are in an early childhood program. This is rote memorization of numbers much like reciting the alphabet. However, they do not really understand a number’s meaning. For example,
the act of counting to ten does not teach a child that ten is more than eight. It is only by manipulating objects and playing with them that children begin to understand the concepts of more, less, the same and the value of numbers.

At A Place to Grow we are much more concerned with the development of concepts than with paper and pencil skills. Children playing games, for example, must learn to divide the pieces so that the amounts are equal for each player. They learn number concepts and operations with real materials that can be touched and manipulated. Children learn to keep score in games; set the table for snack; count how many children are in line; guess how many children are not here today; measure while cooking; play a shape search around the school; identify attributes of their favorite “show and tell” toys; and record vital information about changes in their environment. They use math in their real lives.
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6. Why hasn’t my child learned to write or recognize the alphabet? Why doesn’t A Place to Grow offer activities like “letter of the week”?
Most children do not have the fine motor skills to write letters correctly. When forced to try too early, the result is frustration and a dislike for academic activities. Your child is learning songs and finger plays about the sound of letters. The ability to hear these sounds is much more closely related to beginning reading and conversation than writing the alphabet. We offer children a “whole language” approach which emphasizes using words and letters in meaningful and personal activities.
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Training a young child to master specific subjects such as letter of the week, typically involves little more than rote memorization and imitation. At A Place to Grow, we offer our children a “theme study” approach to learning. We become experts in an area of study. We use writing, math, art, drama, poetry, music, social studies and movement to teach about a topic such as the “ocean”. We recognize that each child will learn in their own unique way and we follow their lead and their interests. Children are learning words, concepts, and information that are relevant, concrete, and connected to a meaningful experience. A copy of our Theme Study, “Homes” is part of our preschool handbook.
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7. How can my child learn to pay attention when there are so many activities going on?
Whole group instruction is rarely productive and is considered to be ineffective at almost every level of education. Teachers intentionally schedule small groups, quiet times and engage in one-on-one instruction for brief periods throughout the day. Small group instruction and individual instruction have been found to more effective for all learners in every school setting. One of the most important functions of teachers at A Place to Grow is setting up a stimulating environment where children can work independently and make choices. Providing multiple activities for children allows the teacher to match a child’s individual needs and interests with a learning activity and it encourages each child to develop self-direction. Children at A Place to Grow are working in a learning environment where choices, independent work habits, self-control and cooperative attitudes are encouraged.
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8. Why doesn’t the teacher put more emphasis on being obedient like sitting still and walking in a straight line?
We are teaching children to develop self-control and to not merely respond to an autocratic teaching philosophy. When it is necessary for your child’s safety, teachers have children at A Place to Grow under control. Teachers require from children only those developmentally appropriate behaviors which enhance learning. Young children learn best when actively involved. Therefore requiring them to sit still for long periods of time does not help learning and is physically inappropriate. Children can learn to be thoughtful of others as they move from place to place without requiring them to walk in a straight line. The goal of self-discipline is well worth the time and effort.
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9. Why is my son playing with dolls or why is my daughter pretending to be a firefighter?
At A Place to Grow both boys and girls are encouraged to think divergently about future careers and roles. A variety of tasks, nurturing experiences and artistic activities are offered to both boys and girls. Our children are modeling the adults in their lives. Gender roles are increasingly flexible for adults and children in our society and our children are imitating the world around them.
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10. Why aren’t children playing more organized games outside?
When children engage in highly organized sports too soon, a few children will experience success, while many others will experience lowered self-esteem. There is increasing evidence that organized sports may also lead to many permanent injuries. Active adults have fond memories of spending their childhood outside “playing”.
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11. Why does A Place to Grow put so much value on play?
Play is practice in choosing, doing, and problem solving. When children play, they are thinking, innovating, negotiating and taking risks. They are creating make-believe events and responding to them. Success in our rapidly changing world depends on being able to think creatively and quickly. Play is open-ended. It doesn’t have preset rules. Children at play are learning to deal with the unexpected. The jobs that our children will have as adults do not exist today. We cannot teach them specific skills. We must inspire in them attitudes that will encourage them to try new ideas and create new things. Play encourages imagination and creativity!
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12. What can I do at home to help my child?
Parents are the most important teachers of young children. Read to your child frequently. Your child needs to hear the language of books and to know that you value reading. Talk to your child. Discuss what you see, hear, smell, think, remember, and feel. Children need to know that their parents are genuinely interested in what they say. Write with your child. Let your child help write letters and thank-you notes, shopping lists, and to-do lists. Have your child help set the table, fold laundry, and prepare meals. Let your child participate in meaningful work.

Broaden your child’s experiences by taking them to various stores. There is a lot to learn at hardware stores, plant nurseries, grocery stores, barber shops, as well as zoos, airports, libraries and museums. Many of these activities cost nothing, yet they provide children with important real life experiences. Let your child be part of your daily routine and work along side of you.

You can help your child achieve by helping them learn to solve problems and be responsible. Take the time to follow their lead, you’ll be surprised where it will take you. Finally, don’t pressure them to express all knowledge with paper and pencil. Accept other means of expression such as movement, drama, music and art. Accept your child as the unique individual they are.
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Most importantly, protect your child’s right to a childhood.